WR49X10173 Refrigerator Dispenser Water Tube Heater Kit by BlueStars

After putting up with the water dispenser freezing up for quite some time, I decided to install this heater. I was expecting the foil portion of the heating element to be flimsy, but the aluminum portion is fairly stiff and not as delicate as I imagined (after reading some reviews). In addition, after cleaning the surface area well with alcohol, I found the adhesive backing to be more than sufficient to securely keep this in place. Well made product. After watching some installation videos, I found this to be a pretty easy DIY. After installation, the element does get warm to the touch, but it's actually warmer than you think I measured it with an instant thermometer and it was in the high 80's. The best part is, the water dispenser has been working since :) Even if it doesn't last forever, it's so inexpensive I'll simply just buy another one and replace it. Well made part. I recommend you change out the flap on the ice dispenser too. Mine was totally deformed. That was leaking cold air around the dispenser tube. UPDATE 2/15/19: It's only been a month, but it's worked perfectly. The water dispenser had not frozen up since :)

My G.E by side water & ice in door the water dispenser kept freezing up it started couple yrs after it was purchased and every now and then. And with time it just became more frequently till it became every few days. Could not set freezer temp above 2 on temp control and nothing was ever really frozen ice was wet and would freeze together. Sons ice cream was mushy at best Had someone who ran up on this issue to tell me about it. But got this heater kit took about 20 mins start to finish problem solved have freezer temp to 9 max low stuff frozen soild ..lit was well worth price.. I dont think I'll ever buy G.E product again they knew there was a issue and charged me 2k for a unit then know they had a design flaw then charge me for a fix their poor design flaw.. Next one for me will be Samsung or L.G prefer to buy USA but appliance makers use mexican companies to throw this junk together.

Update: bought in April 2023. It's now Nov 2024. This thing is still working perfectly. So happy that I got this. Once installed properly, I really recommend this to anyone having this issue with their refrigerators. 6 stars if I could!!! Very initial review and install is a success. Before installing, I watched 3 different YouTube videos by 3 different users. All pretty much the same so I was confident in the install. One note if you're going to give this a try, make sure you have waterproof silicone and alchol wipes (IPA) on hand to properly prep and seal the area around the water outlet tube. This "should" prevent water or condensation from escaping into the area where this heating foil element will adhere to. I unplugged the fridge, just in case; even though we're only dealing with low voltage for the install. Better safe than sorry. Last few notes once you've successfully installed this, is WAIT. Give this a few hours to heat and thaw out the frozen water hose in the door. When you're done with the install and fridge powered up, you should be able to see and reach behind the black cup cradle with a finger and feel the heating element is hot. If not, check your wiring again. I didn't time it exactly, but I'd guess 3 to 4 hours for my water dispenser to working. Lastly, be aware that the 2 white wires from this kit does not end up blocking the pop-up ice door when you reinstall the brackets and panel. I used electrical tape to route the wire away from the door and zip-tied the excess to the wire harness. After 10 years of ignoring and thinking it's useless to fix a GE manufacturer design flaw. I was successful once before, by spending hours trying to thaw the water line with a hair dryer, only to have it freeze the very next day. Hope this is a permanent fix! Will update if it fails.

Our GE Counterdepth fridge has been freezing the waterline for while. The first time, GE said we had to replace the door (This was after only 5 years!). We did, after a discount, but about 5 years later, it started freezing again. So this time, we first ordered the syringe you use with hot water. That worked, but it would freeze up in a day. So we went with this solution. It's fairly easy to put in (after looking at the youtube videos), but it's not quite so clear in the instructions. For example, one wire that had to be crimped was black and white in my fridge, but the instructions said it was white. Also, the metal pieces that crimp were not in the red pieces that snap, so if you're not careful when you open the package, you can lose them (they were literally attached to the instructions). Finally, one of the red snapping pieces never fully snapped in. I had to resort to pliers and good old fashion black electrical tape to get it to stay closed. But the line has not frozen once in the last few weeks, so it really works. Overall, it took me about an hour to install. This includes watching the videos, unplugging the fridge, installing, then replugging the fridge and cleaning up. So well worth the trouble. I do recommend it, for those brave enough to try. Oh, and shame on GE for selling such a poor product that has a whole cottage industry to hack their failures...

Not happy at all. Foil backing was missing on half of it. It appears the paper was partially cut and then torn. Foil was stuck to the instructions and when pulled loose has lost track and wont stick properly now when applied. Also, the cut went through a section of foil where the heating wire is. I do not know if the wire is damaged but I dont want to get shocked due to exposed wire in contact with the foil. Speaking of instructions, it appears to be a plagiarized copy from GE. Wow The part is different than shown in the instructions. The heating wires in the instructions are shown left of the spout but this item will be right given how it is made. Ive not yet taken the parts loose on the refrigerator so I cannot tell yet if this positioning will present a wiring challenge but obviously the instructions were not written for the product delivered. Bottom line I am very disappointed and down right mad. My wife was excited about having door filtered water again but it is a no go with this waste of money product. Last but not least one of the wiring clips is missing the metal push piece so I cant wire it as supplied even if I wanted. What a joke. UPDATE: contacted Amazon live chat. They refunded my purchase price immediately. Sounds crazy but I ordered another one of these from same vendor. Two reasons for reorder. First, it had 96 reviews with about 4.5 stars so most people got good stuff and second I really am curious if I get a similar or better product. I'm willing to gamble the almost 12 bucks lol. I'll report back when I get the replacement tomorrow.

2.5 years in and it did work the whole time until the power draw was too much for the front control panel. The panel started flashing 0's every time we went to get ice or water. To get the panel to work again I had to remove the device and resplice the wires without the heater installed because the connectors included left the wires inside the insulation broken. My panel started working again but the water line froze again in a day. It seems that the problem probably wasn't the heater that caused the power draw. I believe it was the connectors. It was a good 2.5 year run but I don't think I will be installing another one.

Bought this to use on my frozen water dispenser in the freezer door of my 10 year old GE side by side. I wish I had bought this 10 years ago. GE knew there was an issue with all their size by sides with water dispensers and did nothing about it, including warranty service. All I can say is that after watcha you tube video on the ease of repair, I did myself and it solved the issue. No more frozen water line. Buy this and fix your frozen water line, you won’t be disappointed.

Easily one of the best purchases ever! Don't know why I waited so long to get one of these. Installed in minutes, thawed out the frozen line in maybe 30-45 minutes, and has been working like a charm for the past 3 months!

If you have and older fridge and the insulation has become saturated this will help, insulating the back side of the door helps also

Well made and though out fix.

The heater arrived in good shape but the instructions were not as straight forward as they could have been. I reviewed a you tube video that helped decrypt the instructions and got everything installed. It seemed to be working for the first 4 days or so but then the water line froze up again.